INDEPENDENT 20th CENTURY (NYC)
Sept 5-8, 2024
The Independent allows collectors and curators a chance to discover possible modern masters lost to art history or unknown artists who worked outside of major art markets or self-taught artists discovered late or after their deaths.
Michael Janssen Gallery (Berlin) presents the 87 yr. old Hungarian-born Chilean painter Susana Wald’s feminist Surrealist paintings. Wald began her series “Mujeres de” depicting women in the guise of furniture.
24 x 19 inches, Courtesy the Artist, Marisa Newman Projects and Galerie Michael Janssen
While, Diane Rosenstein Gallery (LA) will present a solo booth devoted to Sarah Schumann (1933-2019), a Surrealist feminist artist who was based in Berlin until her death. A figurative painter and collagist, Schumann drew on her personal life as a queer artist to create heroic depictions of women in post-war Europe.
Alison Jacques (London) will present a solo show of works by American artist Lenore Tawney, a vanguard figure in fiber art during the second half of the 20th century. Tawney’s groundbreaking woven sculptural forms, which achieved strong sculptural presence, are her most recognizable series.
Jane Lombard Gallery (NYC) solo presentation of works by Squeak Carnwath will explore the medium of paint as a stand-in for human experience. Active in the Bay Area since the 1970s, Carnwath has developed a signature painting style incorporating text, repeated symbolic iconography, and abstract patterns.
Also participating is Fair Warning an auction platform focused on a single piece. founded by former Christie’s co-chairman Loïc Gouzer, Fair Warning is generally renowned for its commitment to quality, rarity and market freshness. For Independent Fair Warning features a work by LA-based and Japanese-born artist Takako Yamaguchi from her series of tightly cropped realist paintings has been developing a fan base. The work has strange similarities to Italian painter- Dominico Gnoli’s larger-than-life cropped torsos from the 1960s- but Gnoli also painted hairdo’s, shoes etc. Both artists and series are extremely sought-after works, but when seen side-by-side, one wants more information about Yamaguchi’sthoughts behind the series.
Frieze & Kiaf — Seoul
4—8 September 2024
What’s most interesting about Seoul Art Week is not so much the mega galleries that are there to support its gallery program in Asia (such as Gagosian, Sadie Coles, Continua, Hauser&Wirth, Gladstone, etc..) – but the development of new galleries in the Korean and Asian market which has blossomed in the last decade. This year the fairs also coincide with the 15th Gwangju Biennalewhich gathers 72 artists from 30 countries adding an extra layer of programming, collectors, and media to an already hyped market. Gwangju is only a 2 hr train ride from Seoul.
Some of the Seoul-based galleries we recommend are- Jason Haam, CYLINDER, G Gallery, and P21 along with more established galleries that have been around since the 1980s- such as Gana Art, gallerychosun, and Kukje Gallery.
If you want a real deep dive into Korean Art then KIAF is the answer, as it features many more galleries along with a mix of international galleries (some known- some lesser known) even some established Korean galleries do both fairs indicating that there are different collector bases for each fair.
POSITIONS
12—15 Sept 2024 (Berlin)
Since the late 90s/early 2000’s, Berlin has built an interesting gallery scene with literally hundreds of galleries in the German Capital. The issue for the Berlin galleries has always been its difficulty building a sustainable art fair. Artforum Berlin from 1996 bis 2010 was a good fair but struggled to attract international collectors. Afterwards, abc (Art Berlin Contemporary) was initiated as a smaller more curated fair with innovative themes – this project gave birth to Gallery Weekend Berlin (Spring) and later the Berlin Art Week (Fall). The 9th edition of POSITIONS currently coincides with BAW- but POSITIONS has struggled to find its audience even though the Templehof (former Airport) site is an excellent venue for an art fair- but at times the space almost dwarfs the fair and its expanded events.
For those German collectors that couldn’t make it to Seoul, this year POSITIONS offers a small group of Korean galleries including Aria Gallery (Seoul), Choi&Choi Gallery (Seoul & Cologne), This Weekend Room (Seoul), and more… Unfortunately, the quality of the German galleries is less than exciting with most of the established galleries opting to participate at Art Cologne or Art Dusseldorf fairs.
PARTICOLARE
11—15 Sept 2024 (Vienna)
Lastly, PARTICOLARE which is a new ‘fair as exhibition’ concept that will premiere in Vienna from September 11-15, 2024. Particolare offers art audiences and collectors an event somewhere between an exhibition and an art salon- curated, open, immersive, and on a human scale. Works from established artists include Francis Alÿs, Alighiero Boetti, Dara Birnbaum, Pierre Bismuth, Angela Bulloch, Tacita Dean, Wim Delvoye, Jimmie Durham, On Kawara, Joseph Kosuth, Alicja Kwade, Mario Merz, Vera Molnár, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Rob Pruitt, and Kiki Smith among others is a curious list of artists from established and emerging galleries including Air de Paris, Esther Schipper, Presenhuber, Nagel Draxler, Lisson Gallery, Marian Goodman, Mehdi Chouakri, Mennour, and PACE Gallery.
The founders state that Particolare “will be the first of a series of upcoming commissions taking place globally, supporting innovation and new approaches to culture“. This concept in the right place might be an interesting solution to fairs like POSITIONS appear to be lacking a concept, but Vienna is already a small and bloated art market with multiple art fairs fighting for a handful of local collectors and finding it difficult to attract the international audience needed for an event like this. Vienna is not the best time or place.